Nathaniel Daniel Rabo¹*, Lisa Monday Mwadkon² and Samuel Omotayo Iyanda³

¹Regional Laboratory for Animal Influenza and Other Transboundary Animal Diseases, Department of Infectious and Transboundary Animal Diseases – National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State Nigeria
²Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Jos, Plateau State Nigeria
³Department of Microbiology, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Nathaniel Daniel Rabo, Regional Laboratory for Animal Influenza and Other Transboundary Animal Diseases, Department of Infectious and Transboundary Animal Diseases – National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State Nigeria.

Received: August 23, 2023; Published: September 08, 2023

Abstract

Infectious viral diseases are typically difficult to control, especially when a unique intermediate host and a vector are both involved in the epidemiology. African Horse Sickness (AHS), the most dreaded equine disease, was again confirmed in Nigeria in December 2022. Isolated cases are still being confirmed by the National Veterinary Research Institute. For a proper integrative and concerted control or management approach for AHS to be instituted, it is necessary to review the epidemiology of the disease and its associated intricacies, i.e., the role of the midge vector, reservoir host, and climatic factors, and then its economic consequences, the prevention and control strategies employed by other countries that have survived a bout with AHS at different times, and those in which the disease is still endemic and how such could be deployed in the Nigerian context. This review revealed the need for instituting a concerted integrative prevention and control (containment) protocol, which at the very least must contain three elements of vaccination, quarantine, and vector control, in addition to other methods that should be supported by active seromonitoring and the implementation of early warning systems.

Keywords: African Horse Sickness; Epidemiology; Economic Importance; Quarantine; Vaccination; Vector Control

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Citation

Citation: Nathaniel Daniel Rabo., et al. “African Horse Sickness Resurgence and its Implication for Nigeria: A Review".Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences 5.10 (2023): 11-20.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Nathaniel Daniel Rabo., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.